Book ReviewsINTERPRETING DNA EVIDENCE. By Ian W.

Evett and Bruce S. Weir. Sunderland,MA: Sinauer Associates. 1998. 278 pp.ISBN 0-87893-155-4. $34.95 (paper).

Through nine chapters of this monograph,two internationally recognized experts sum-marize their views on the interpretation ofDNA evidence as used in forensics and par-entage testing. Basic principles of probabil-ity theory, standard statistical distribu-tions, and population genetics, discussed inthe first three chapters, set the stage forstatistical interpretations of DNA evidence,which are presented under the separatechapter headings of transfer evidence, par-entage testing, and analysis of mixtures ofDNA from two or more sources. Concepts ofindependence of alleles within and acrossloci are outlined in a chapter called “Statis-tical Genetics.” Computations of matchprobabilities and presentation of evidencein courts constitute the theme of the re-maining two chapters. Appendix materialsinclude numerical tables of normal and chi-square distributions and keys for solvingexercise problems listed in the individualchapters.

In the foreword, the authors note thatforensic analysts are “often uncomfortablewith statistics” (p. xiv) and hence, the au-thors have taken a “gentle pace” on relevantconcepts to set the stage for their suggestedinterpretative guidelines. The materialscovered mostly meet this criterion, and theauthors must be commended for their effortto go through the statistical logic as rigor-ously as was practical. Even though theDNA technology used in forensics and par-entage testing is still evolving, the breadthof the topics covered will make this volumea handy reference source book for years tocome. In this sense, by and large this is asuccessful project for which the authorsmust be congratulated.

DNA evidence is basically the outcome ofmolecular typing of biological materials,

and as a consequence, inference from mod-els of statistical analyses can only be ap-proximate. The discussions on the biologicalaspects of the evidence are somewhat weakin this volume, and as a consequence, read-ers with a lesser appreciation of statisticsand mathematics may be bewildered by thecomplexity of coefficients and parametersintroduced to address some topics. For ex-ample, while the conditional probabilities ofequation (4.20) are artfully derived throughthe development of 15 descent measures onp. 118 –120, the premises of limited appli-cations of these conditional probabilities arenot sufficiently emphasized. It is true thatthe authors, at the bottom of p. 120, statedthat these formulae are useful when thesuspected and the true contributors of theDNA of evidence samples both belong to thesame subpopulation, but the allele frequen-cies are not available for that specific sub-group of individuals. Nonetheless, it shouldhave been emphasized that this stipulationis often missing in actual casework analysis,in which other simpler probabilities areenough (which is clearly spelled out in theNational Research Council (1996) report).

While the rigor and mathematical accu-racy of the logic are the unifying theme of alldiscussions in this volume, some inadequa-cies in this respect are apparent to experteyes. For example, the derivation of the pa-ternity exclusion probability (p. 181) isbased on the assumption of the strict inde-pendence of alleles, and it applies when theaccused father and the mother are from thesame population. More general formula-tions of this problem exist in the literature(Chakraborty et al., 1988), and even in thissimple case, the equation for Q (p. 181) canbe further simplified in terms of sums ofpowers of allele frequencies (Chakravartiand Li, 1983).

Throughout the volume, the authors ar-gue that the likelihood ratio (LR) approachis the unified procedure for addressing allforensic and parentage testing evidence. Inprinciple, they are correct, and they notethat in some simple cases, the frequency

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© 2000 WILEY-LISS, INC.

approach is mathematically equivalent tothe LR approach (p. 28). Nonetheless, the“transposed conditioning” (p. 227) verbal ex-planation of the estimated LR is a commonproblem when experts present LR calcula-tions in courts. In this context, not every-body will agree with the authors’ contentionthat “in cases that involve any kind of com-plication a Bayesian analysis is unavoid-able” (p. 28). A likelihood ratio, by itself, isnot Bayesian logic; only when the “posteriorodds” (see p. 19) are computed from the LRestimated from the observation (e.g., DNAevidence) does one embark on a Bayesianjourney. Thus, even in cases (e.g., for mix-ture interpretation, or for computing pater-nity indices) where the LR is unavoidable,the explanation may be phrased without in-voking Bayesian logic. Having made consid-erable efforts to justify the assumptions un-derlying the computation of relativefrequencies or of the LR, an arbitrary stip-ulation of any prior probability is outsidethe province of DNA experts.

In summary, and in spite of the abovecomments, this volume is highly recom-mended for DNA analysts. With the help of

some tutoring, DNA analysts should be ableto use the materials discussed in this vol-ume for statistical assessment of almost allDNA evidence. The experiences of both au-thors are reflected in the writing, and thematerials are well-suited for students andanalysts wishing to learn the statisticallogic used in the arena of DNA forensics andthe use of DNA typing in parentage testing.Thus, the scope of this volume is truly thestatistical interpretation of DNA evidence.

RANAJIT CHAKRABORTY

Human Genetics CenterUniversity of Texas School of PublicHealthHouston, Texas

LITERATURE CITED

Chakraborty R, Meagher T, Smouse PE. 1988. Parent-age analysis with genetic markers in natural popula-tions. I. The expected proportion of offspring withunambiguous paternity. Genetics 118:527–536.

Chakravarti A, Li CC. 1983. The effect of linkage onpaternity calculations. In: Walker RH, editor. Inclu-sion probabilities in parentage testing. Arlington, VA:American Association of Blood Banks. p 411–422.

National Research Council. 1996. The evaluation of fo-rensic DNA evidence. Washington, DC: NationalAcademy Press.

THE GREENLAND NORSE: A BIOLOGICAL-ANTHROPOLOGICAL STUDY. MEDDELELSER ON

GRØNLAND, MAN AND SOCIETY 24. By NielsLynnerup. Copenhagen: Commission forScientific Research in Greenland. 1998.149 pp. ISBN 87-90369-24-6. $35.00 (pa-per).

A furore nonnannnorum, libera nos, domine (From thefury of the Northmen, O Lord, deliver us)

The Vikings, vibrant, untamed, and raw,had a strong and unmistakable impact onmuch of Europe and across the northernseas. Few historic periods or peoples cap-ture our imaginations like the Vikings.Their colonies in Greenland, while neverlarge, are evidence of the amazing capacityof these seaman-farmers.

The colonization of Greenland is synony-mous with the name of Erik the Red, whowas not just a legendary figure but also areal person with a firm place in history. In

983 or 984 AD, Erik was outlawed fromIceland because of “some killings”; unable toreturn to his native Norway for similar rea-sons, Erik decided to explore the unknownand then-uninhabited land to the westsighted earlier. The 3 years of his exile werespent exploring and claiming the southwestcoast of this new land. In a stroke of publicrelations genius, Erik named the new land“Greenland” and upon his return to Iceland,persuaded about two dozen boatloads of peo-ple with their livestock to help him colonizethe new territory. Others were to follow.The Viking settlements spread along thesouthwestern coast and lasted for perhaps500 years. The development and eventualdisappearance of the Greenland communi-ties intrigue all who study the Vikings.

Lynnerup’s important and ambitiouswork is a study of all known Norse skeletalmaterial from Greenland in a broad multi-disciplinary reconstruction of Norse society.

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This was no small task, as materials datefrom excavations ranging from 1723–1992AD. As is clear from the introduction, theexcavations (and the collected skeletal ma-terial) suffer from varying degrees of ar-chaeological and curatorial rigor and report-ing. In addition, Lynnerup’s mode ofskeletal research was hampered by the 18thand 19th century tradition of recoveringonly skulls. The present publication is basedon the author’s 1994 Ph.D. dissertation.

The first chapter is a detailed and thor-ough review of all sites at which skeletalmaterial has been found. The archaeologicalrecords, including unpublished reports, aresummarized. Some of the most recent ar-chaeological excavations have resulted inthe reassessment of older excavations, andthese are included in the chapter. The au-thor then located all skeletal material re-ported to have been collected and sent toDenmark. Unfortunately, not all the skele-tal material identified as Norse could belinked directly to archaeological documenta-tion, nor could all skeletal material reportedbe accounted for. The author estimates adiscrepancy of some 10–20 specimens.

The first chapter also summarizes thepreservation and extent of the material.Anyone who has tried to tally just what isavailable for study in this collection can ap-preciate the scope of this task. For example,boxes labeled as containing a single individ-ual might yield some supernumerary bones,thus indicating the presence of at least oneother individual. Lynnerup reports 457specimens for a MNI of 378, none of whomwere entirely complete. Standard methodsof assessing age and sex were applied to thefragmentary skeletal material. Lynnerupfound a sex ratio that is, on the whole,evenly distributed (male:female 5 1.02).However, there seems to be a bias towardsfemales in the younger adult age groups andtoward males in the older age groups. Thismay indicate a higher mortality for youngfemales as Lynnerup suggests, or it may bea bias in the sexing technique. Young indi-viduals may be more gracile and thereforebe more likely to be assessed as female. Thenumber of subadults in the samples is low(16%), but this may reflect both differentialpreservation and differential collection.

Establishing a chronological sequence forthe Norse skeletal material was essential,since no diachronic analyses would be pos-sible without placing the specimens in sometimeframe. Archaeological and strati-graphic relationships were of limited valuefor a myriad of reasons. Thus, Lynnerupused calibrated 14C dates on 32 specimens.This was the first comprehensive attempt togenerate a chronological sequence for theNorse skeletal material. In addition, Lynne-rup uses 14C analyses to document a dietaryshift from terrestrial to marine resources.This chapter alone is worth the price of thebook.

The second chapter deals with burialpractices and principles of interment inNorse Greenland. When the Norse firstcame to Greenland, they were probably pa-gan. As such, most people were simply bur-ied on or near their farms, although villagesmight have had communal burial sites.However, Christianity was introduced intoGreenland soon after the first colonists ar-rived. Therefore, burial presumably shiftedto churchyards. Lynnerup’s encyclopedicanalysis revealed no general picture of hor-izontal stratification (implying chronology)in the Greenland churchyards. It seemed tohim that natural factors (e.g., sea level,coastal erosion, and soil conditions) playedthe major role in burial distribution. Never-theless, the earlier churches did seem tosegregate burials by gender (albeit incom-pletely). The gender segregation was not ev-ident at later Norse churchyards. Segrega-tion by age, i.e., burial of neonates, was alsopracticed, but again only at the very earliestchurch. Segregation by social status alsoseems to have been practiced, if only at thelargest, most central churches (interesting-ly, centrally buried individuals have largerskeletal dimensions than those peripherallyburied). These and other burial customs cor-respond to the contemporary Scandinavianpattern, indicating that Norse Greenlandwas well-integrated with medieval Europe.

The third chapter discusses the physicalanthropology of the Greenland Norse. Met-ric and nonmetric data were collected forvarious statistical analyses. The aim was totest for synchronic and possible diachronicmorphological variation. In addition, stat-

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ure was calculated and the Norse materialwas tested for Inuit admixture. Results ofexhaustive morphometric analyses indicateno significant synchronic differences but di-achronically, there may have been a slightgeneral decrease in overall skeletal size.The Greenland Norse also tested smallerthan contemporary Danish skeletons. Met-ric analyses failed to detect significant Inuitadmixture, in full accordance with historicand archaeological data. Nonmetric analy-ses failed to show either spatial or temporaldifferences. Lynnerup had hoped to detectfamilial patterns through differential traitdensity, but differences were not statisti-cally significant. He concludes this chapterwith a call for DNA analysis to provide in-formation on kinship and intersite relation-ships. Since the publication of this work,Lynnerup has begun just such analyses.

The fourth chapter is an examination ofthe paleopathology of the Norse skeletalmaterial. This chapter deals with the con-ventional osteoarthopathies, trauma, neo-plasms, congenital malformations, andgrowth disturbances. Lynnerup contendsthat these diseases, while probably disad-vantageous to the individual, had little im-pact on the population as a whole. The mostinteresting and innovative section of thischapter was the use of infectious middle eardisease (IMED) as a method for evaluatingchildhood “stress” and general health. Lyn-nerup proposes at least two mutually exclu-sive explanations for the slight decrease inIMED from early to late settlements:

1) Either IMED directly reflects childhood stress andhigher frequencies, thus suggesting a period of greaterchildhood stress than in the more recent settlementperiods; [or]2) the decrease in IMED frequency is due to a highermortality among afflicted children, so that fewer willsurvive to display hypopneumatization as adults. Con-sequently, higher frequencies of IMED in the early pe-riod suggest a better state of health which deterioratedduring the settlement period. (p. 82)

In any case, the frequencies do not changesignificantly, and it is difficult to assesswhether or not there was in fact a change inchildhood stress or even if the method issufficiently accurate and sensitive to detectsuch change. Nonetheless, this innovativeapproach bears more study.

Lynnerup addresses the paleodemogra-phy of the Greenland Norse in the fifthchapter. The author begins with an assump-tion of a starting population of 500 thatpeaked at 2,000 over the next 200 years. A100-year “stable” period ensued, followed by200 years of decline, resulting in completedepopulation. As Lynnerup points out, hismodel is purely hypothetical and only one ofmany possible patterns. This model gives atotal projected population of 26,500, whichsupports the figure estimated from thenumber of interments. With this model, anemigration rate of about 10 people per yearover a 200-year period would be sufficient toexplain the Norse population decline.

The topic of population decline and even-tual extinction is continued in the sixth andlast chapter. Those who study the Green-land Norse know that several hypotheseshave been proposed to explain their demise.Lynnerup summarizes the six best-knownexplanations and evaluates each in light ofhis recent archaeological and osteologicalwork. As Lynnerup so clearly points out,each of the earlier studies of the NorseGreenlanders reflected the ideas and cul-tural milieu of its time. What we need, heasserts, is to learn to see the Norse throughtheir eyes, not our own. His work is an ex-cellent start in that direction. The last 14pages of this book consist of a bibliographythat is fairly comprehensive and current.

I have only a few small quibbles with thisbook. The first concerns the maps in Chap-ter 1. The book would be greatly enhancedby the addition of a comprehensive mapshowing all of the sites referred to in thetext. The general map on p. 9 lacks thedetail necessary to locate the sites, and thedigitized church maps are out of geographiccontext. Also, these church maps would besignificantly improved by the addition of theburials or skeletons if such data exist. Sec-ondly, some of the data graphs in Chapter 2are a bit too small to read (e.g., Figs. 29 and30 on p. 49). These are minor points; all inall, Lynnerup is to be congratulated for pro-ducing a first-rate study.

CHRISTINE L. HANSON

Department of AnthropologyUniversity of Alaska AnchorageAnchorage, Alaska

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BIOSOCIAL PERSPECTIVES ON CHILDREN. Ed-ited by Catherine Panter-Brick. NewYork: Cambridge University Press. 1998.160 pp. ISBN 0-521-57595-8. $19.95 (pa-per).

Some disparate themes in the evolution-ary and cross-cultural literature on childrenare brought together in this slim volume,which takes as its central problem the con-cept of the “child” or “childhood.” The keyconclusion is that what constitutes child-hood is not fixed or universal, but shaped inimportant ways by hominid evolutionaryhistory and cultural context. However, thisraises the question of whether any aspectsof this life stage are universal experiences.What is it that defines “a child,” or “child-hood?” The tremendous historical and cross-cultural variation in early life experiencesbelies straightforward definitions. Is theonly thing that children have in commontheir young chronological age and relativebiological immaturity? How meaningful oruseful are these as analytic criteria, espe-cially relative to other axes of variation (sex,ethnicity, or socioeconomic status)? Canchildhood be retained as a meaningful ana-lytic concept that has some utility for com-parative analysis, or should the study ofchildhood fall victim to a relativistic stancethat precludes comparison? These are someof the important issues that pervade thisvolume.

Each of the authors makes clear the am-biguities and tensions in research on chil-dren. To date, most researchers have viewedchildren as “works in progress,” neitherfully biologically mature nor enculturatedor socialized. It seems safe to say that chil-dren are often studied for the ways thatthey contribute to, or represent, somethingelse, and as such they become contested ter-ritory in broader debates. The large body ofwork on child growth and development dem-onstrates the processes by which the youngturn into adults. In turn, child growth iswidely used as an index of child health,which is considered a close reflection ofstresses in the environment. Psychologists

mine for early life experiences that contrib-ute to disturbances in adult mental func-tion. There is a notable dearth of children’svoices in ethnographic writing, where onlyadults are allowed the authority to speak asinformants, even on children’s experiences.In his commentary, Martin Richards elabo-rates on how conceptions of childhood havebeen at center stage in the nature-nurturedebate. On the other hand, it seems predict-able that children and the concept of “child-hood” will be mired in conflict. From anevolutionary point of view, children are notmere copies of their parents, and this differ-ence may be evident as early as the prenatalperiod. Children require investments now,with the expectation of fitness and otherpayoffs later; they force the issue of“tradeoffs.”

To start, Barry Bogin proposes that child-hood evolved as a novel life history stageover the course of hominid evolution. Hedefines childhood as a period of prolongeddietary dependency after weaning, which isnot analogous to a stage in the life historiesof other apes. This stage continues up until6–7 years of age, when the child achievessome degree of dental and cognitive matu-rity and is able to provide some of its ownfood, help with the care of younger siblings,and protect itself from threats. The benefitsof such a stage for hominids would be anincrease in fertility made possible by foodsupplementation and sibling care, whichwould relieve a mother from prolongednursing and allow her to return to fertilityearlier without compromising the survivalof existing offspring. From Bogin’s perspec-tive, childhood is a species-specific life stagefor Homo sapiens, with some universal fea-tures: food dependency, relatively slowphysical growth, “cuteness” to elicit care-giving behaviors, the ability to care for sib-lings, and an opportunity for prolongedlearning. However, while this definitionmakes sense within hominid evolutionaryhistory, there is much more diversity inwhat children of this age are doing, andmuch to be learned about the sources of that

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variation. Is childhood a fixed age categoryor a more plastic developmental category?

Allison James also traces the temporalemergence of childhood by reviewing Phil-ippe Aries’s classic argument for the originsof childhood as a cultural construct, imbuedwith specific emotions and meanings inWestern history. She then uses this as aspringboard to assert that childhood is not auniversal category, but that there are many“childhoods.” From this perspective, any bi-ological characterizations of childhood needto be seen as setting the context, as opposedto determining or defining children’s expe-riences. Several examples illustrate thehighly variable nature of the early lifespan,and the ways that childhoods reflect cul-tural trends. At the same time, James ar-gues that children should be studied ontheir own terms, and recognized as possess-ing their own culture on which they areauthoritative informants and not merely aspassive receptacles of cultural messages. Aclear conclusion from James’s work is thatuniversalizing global child policies (e.g.,child health, rights, or labor laws) is inevi-tably problematic due to cross-cultural dif-ferences in the valuation of children.

Robert LeVine takes the more traditionalapproach of examining how cultural differ-ences in child-rearing practices channel bi-ological and social development so as to pro-duce culturally functional adults. As such,his work is an important corrective to stan-dard psychological approaches that assumeuniformity in child development. He alsoprovides a succinct historical and concep-tual review of the child psychology litera-ture and the anthropological contributionsto that literature. His environmental opti-mization theory and description of the “cul-tural priming” process are important contri-

butions, and relevant to anthropologistsinterested in child development.

While life history stage (i.e., childhood) isclearly an important aspect of human bio-logical variation, it is, like other aspects ofvariation, given form and meaning within alarger social and ecological context. Thispoint is driven home in Catherine Panter-Brick’s chapter on child health. Here thevarious methods biological anthropologistsuse to assess children are described, butthey are presented as tools in the service ofunderstanding child health as an outcome ofspecific generative contexts and processes.Their status as “gold standards” for theevaluation of child health in diverse envi-ronments is questioned.

In summary, the authors walk a fine linebetween emphasizing the context of chil-dren’s lives and those lives themselves, andalso between understanding children ontheir own terms and as individuals withparticularly fluid ontogenetic pathways thatrespond to environmental challenges inways that can have long-term effects. Theypresent the current state of research on chil-dren from a diversity of anthropological per-spectives, and bring to the fore the inherentdilemmas in approaching children as re-search subjects in the field. This book ismost useful as a set of review articles thatcover a wide range of topics related to chil-dren, and is accessible to undergraduateand graduate student readers. It is broadlyrelevant to researchers interested in a lifehistory perspective on human variation, aswell as to those with more specific interestsin the early part of the lifespan.

ANDREA S. WILEY

Department of AnthropologyJames Madison UniversityHarrisonburg, Virginia

THE MYTH OF HUMAN RACES. By Alain F.Corcos. East Lansing, MI: Michigan StateUniversity Press. 1997. 214 pp. ISBN0-87013-439-6. $17.95 (paper).

The title of this short and easy to readbook gives away the punch line. This book is

a series of short essays that debunk the ideathat humans can be classified into discreteraces. The book is geared more toward un-dergraduate students and the public ratherthan graduate students or professionals.The intended audience is clear from thebook’s preface; after describing how many

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anthropologists and biologists have aban-doned the race concept, the author states,“Now it is time for the public at large toabandon the belief in the existence of hu-man races, a belief that has done greatharm to human relations” (p. xiv). This is anadmirable goal, and as those who havetaught courses in human variation know, itis important to distinguish between raceand variation. Variation exists within andamong populations, and it is important topoint out to students that a rejection of therace concept does not mean a rejection ofvariation, but rather the rejection of a par-ticular, pre-Darwinian view of how varia-tion is structured.

This book does a fine job of simulta-neously illustrating the nature of humanvariation and rejecting a racial mode ofanalysis. Problems with the race conceptare explored and debunked throughout thebook, including discussion of problems indefining race and enumerating humanraces. This book is not a textbook per se, butrather a series of 25 short chapters, eachaveraging about 7 pages with notes and ref-erences. The chapters are organized in threesections. Part One consists of six chaptersconcerned with definitions and fallacies ofthe race concept, including a very nice chap-ter on the erroneous views associated with“blood” (e.g., “full blood,” “half-blood,” and“tainted blood”).

While Part One focuses on commonly heldviews on race, Part Two deals with the in-fluence of race in scientific thought, includ-ing evolutionary views, natural selectionand race, race formation in relation to spe-ciation, and the relationship of race and IQ.Concerning the last, Corcos points out animportant, though often overlooked, aspectof the race-IQ debate, i.e., race is not anappropriate unit of analysis. This sectionalso has a chapter on race and disease,nicely commenting on the common use ofrace as a risk factor in epidemiological anal-yses. The use of race as a discrete variableobscures variation. For example, if you wereinterested in looking at the relationship of adisease with some continuous variable suchas skin color, you should use that variableand not a racial designation, such as “black”or “white,” which would obscure the under-

lying relationship. I think this is a problemthat anthropologists and human biologistsneed to be aware of, since many continue touse race as a crude proxy variable for amultitude of biological and social traits. Isuspect that the frequent use of race as aproxy measure in epidemiology is in partdue to the tenacity of the race concept, but isperhaps also due to the ubiquitous nature ofracial classification in morbidity and mor-tality records (the frequency of which is inpart due to continued acceptance of the raceconcept).

Part Three of this book deals with thenature of biological variation at differentlevels, contrasting such views with the ra-cial approach. The various chapters exam-ine several different topics to reemphasizeproblems with the race concept, includingthe relationship of races and species, indi-vidual genetic variation, and several shortchapters on skin color. One of the most in-teresting chapters focuses on “Myths AboutAncestry.” Here, Corcos examines popularnotions about ancestry and shows that theyare not genetically accurate. He looksbriefly at the statistical nature of inheri-tance and meiosis, and as an example,shows that six generations in the past aperson has more potential ancestors thanchromosomes. The implication here is thatthe more distant an ancestor, the higher theprobability that that ancestor did not con-tribute even a single chromosome. Corcosthen goes on to contrast this view of inher-itance with commonly used statementsabout ancestry, where people describethemselves as some fraction (e.g., “one-eighth”) of one race or the other.

While in general I enjoyed the book, I notedseveral problems, inaccuracies, and mislead-ing statements. For example, Corcos de-scribes Lewontin’s results that only 6% of thetotal genetic variation exists between tradi-tionally defined geographic races, but does notnote that more recent work shows a rangecloser to 10–15%. The implication remainsthe same (“race” only accounts for a smallproportion of variation, and most variationexists within populations), but a more up-to-date figure would have been useful. In an-other chapter, Corcos describes early studieson the relationship between nasal index and

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climate, but does not mention later work byBeals and others. Again, this is not a majorproblem and does not detract from the basicmessage, but it would be nice to have citationsthat are more current. The citation datessometimes result in misleading statements,such as a sentence suggesting that some an-thropologists “still assume that racial traitsexist” (p. 79, italics mine) and then citing a1964 paper. The biggest problem I had waswith a brief description of the multiregionalevolution model of human origins, which Cor-cos describes as Coon’s model, and not themodern version promoted by Wolpoff and oth-ers. I grow somewhat weary of continuing tosee multiregional evolution incorrectly de-scribed as parallel evolution.

Despite these problems, the book does agood job of refuting the race concept as ap-plied to human variation. This book is in-tended for, and well-suited for, a generalaudience, including undergraduates with

limited exposure to studies of human varia-tion. The book is written in an easily acces-sible conversational style. There are few ref-erences, and the coverage of selectedvariations (e.g., blood types, skin color) isquite variable, often with little specific data.This book is clearly not a general text onhuman biological variation, but that is notits purpose. The book does what it sets outto do: to debunk the race concept, in a clearand interesting manner for the novice. Itwould be a useful supplementary text inintroductory courses on biological anthro-pology and human variation. I hope that theauthor comes out with a revised edition thatcorrects some of the problems and providesadditional current citations.

JOHN H. RELETHFORD

Department of AnthropologyState University of New York College atOneontaOneonta, New York

BOOKS RECEIVEDBondioli L, and Macchiarelli R (eds.) (1999)

Digital Archives of Human Paleobiology. 1.Rome, Italy: Museo Nazionale “L. Pigorini.”$0.00 (CD-ROM).

Bondioli L, and Macchiarelli R (eds.) (1999)Digital Archives of Human Paleobiology.2. Rome, Italy: Museo Nazionale “L. Pig-orini.” $0.00 (CD-ROM).

Chisholm JS (1999) Death, Hope and Sex:

Steps to an Evolutionary Ecology of Mindand Morality. New York: Cambridge Uni-versity Press. 296 pp. $29.95 (paper).

Parker ST, Mitchell RW, and Miles HL(eds.) (1999) The Mentalities of Gorillaand Orangutans. New York: CambridgeUniversity Press. 419 pp. $85.00 (cloth).

Roberts MB, and Parfit SA (eds.) (1999)Boxgrove: A Middle Pleistocene HominidSite at Eartham Quarry, Boxgrove, WestSussex. London: English Heritage. 456pp. £80.00 (paper).

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